U2

“Whether it’s a Fuzz-Tone or a wah-wah pedal, if it’s really happening, it becomes part of the instrument,” The Edge muses. “I don’t think about playing through an effect; I think about playing the whole thing.”

This integral approach has ensured U2’s guitarist has done more than any other modern guitarist to implant the joys of guitar effects into the collective consciousness. This reached its stadium-filling apex on Where The Streets Have No Name: those circular delayed intro arpeggios (0:14 to 0:35) through two differently timed delays build into partial powerchords (0:35 to 1:17) then flit between styles until the arpeggiated coda (4:21) – ushering in years of world- dominating mainstream success for the Biggest Band In The World.